Peter Dobrovolny, Retired Architect and Planner
Prior to retirement in February 2014, Peter was a part of the City of Seattle’s Green Building Program and worked with the private sector development community to fulfill the mission of the City’s Sustainable Building Policy. Beginning in late 2009, Peter was intimately involved in creating the first 2030 District in Seattle, and through national connections in the green building field, brought the concept to Tucson.
Michael Peel
Michael Peel is a scholar activist and has over 15 years of experience in community and sustainability program and project development, local business and nonprofit support services with a focus on sustainability planning and project implementation, and grant writing and research. Michael is a proud native of Tucson. Throughout his career, Michael has been awarded multiple distinctions and honors, including Tucson 40 Under 40, Tucson 2030 District Changemaker Award, and U.S. Green Building Council Volunteer of the Year. He received his B.A. in Government and Leadership from Claremont McKenna College, his M.Ed. from Northern Arizona University, and is currently a doctoral candidate at Arizona State University focused on climate justice and action through increasing and improving community engagement and equity in sustainability.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CHAIR, Karen Peterson, Journalist and Climate Education Advocate
Karen Peterson grew up in Tucson and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area after graduating from the University of Arizona with a degree in journalism. She worked at the San Francisco Chronicle for a decade before switching to web journalism in 1995 as an editor and producer at Macworld Online. As a reporter, she contributed to an investigative series that won a Pulitzer Prize for the weekly Pt. Reyes Light in Marin County, CA, and was a recipient of the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award from the American Business Press Association. She began writing about climate change in 2006 and was a contributing editor to the Climate Change Business Journal, a national business intelligence publication. Returning to Tucson in 2013, Karen is the organizer of Climate Tucson, a community climate education group.
VICE CHAIR, David Eisenberg, Founder, Development Center for Appropriate Technology
DCAT launched their program Building Sustainability into the Codes in 1995 seeking to create a sustainable context for building codes, grounded in real world building experience. David served two terms on the U.S. Green Building Council Board of Directors where he founded and chaired USGBC’s Code Committee for nine years. He was vice chair of the first ASTM subcommittee on sustainability for buildings and led the task group that developed.
Bruce Plenk, Solar Possibilities Consulting, Lawyer
Bruce is a public interest attorney and solar advocate. He served as the City of Tucson’s Solar Energy Coordinator for 6 years, helping put solar on many city facilities, developing solar policy and spreading the word about the value of solar energy. He is the former chair of the Southern Arizona Solar Partnership and worked for several local solar companies. HIs home has PV and solar water heating and he hopes that everyone else will too and soon! His legal work has focused on environmental law and representing low-income clients, at Southern Arizona Legal Aid and elsewhere. He has been a frequent participant in hearings before the Arizona Corporation Commission relating to solar energy and energy efficiency, advocating that more of both be required of local utility companies.
Joaquim Delgado, hydrologist by training and a “teacher wannabe” by choice.
Retired from Tucson Water, Joaquim managed multiple outreach programs over his 23-year career, focusing on the stewardship of our water resources through engaging-STEM water education, sustainable landscape education, and promoting water-efficiency incentives.
Joaquim oversaw hundreds of audits of large commercial properties through the Tucson Audit Program. His collaboration with Arizona Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) in the development and implementation of standard-based and locally relevant water education programs remains his proudest accomplishment.
Upon graduation from the University of Arizona, he returned home to the Cape Verde Islands (West Africa) to manage UNICEF- sponsored water and sanitation projects including drilling with the dual purpose of water supply and hydrogeological mapping. He also served as Associate Peace Corps Director for Programming, where he managed hundreds of volunteers in the fields of water and sanitation. He returned to Tucson in the mid-90s and joined AmeriCorps, where he led an IBM-sponsored initiative to empower at-risk youth through advancing their computer skills.